Tuesday, August 26, 2008

ACNE AND SELF CONFIDENCE

People have a tendency to laugh at a person with acne feeling that “I don’t have this problem.” An anxiety or ‘Fetish’- which means that a subject of addiction or continuous attention or regard which makes a person irritated with the thought of acne develops due to this phenomenon. Two clinical forms of an acne fetish include excoriated acne and imagined acne.
1. Excoriated acne occurs when an acne patient continues to pick at or squeeze acne formations on their face, never allowing the skin to heal. This constant picking aggravates the acne condition and often times leaves severe scarring.
2. Imagined acne happens when a patient is convinced she has acne but in reality does not. This person may have one small pimple and blow the existence of the pimple out of proportion and view it as a severe case of acne.
Underlying both of these acne fetishes is the fear of being ugly, or dysmorphophobia. It's an easy psychological state to acquire in a society that increasingly places more value on superficial looks than personal traits.
Steps to combating an acne fetish include: Spending less time self-critiquing in front of the mirror; and embellishing your talents.
Even a hiatus from mirror visits may help an acne fetish. If you do look in the mirror, focus on elements of your face besides the zits. For instance, look at the color of your eyes or the size of your lips, without criticizing of course. You may have lovely eyelashes or the perfect eyebrows. Whenever you look in the mirror stop making negative judgments about yourself. If you do find yourself ridiculing yourself and wanting to burst a zit in a rushed desire for clear skin, just remind yourself that every zit that you prematurely pop may encourage the formation of 3 completely new zits.
Focus on your greatest assets as a person, or cultivate new skills. You may be an awesome guitar player or fabulous singer, give yourself recognition for your strengths. Do something that you've always wanted to do, but did not do because you felt having acne precludes you from this activity.
In the final analysis, healing an acne fetish starts with recognizing that this condition has serious medical repercussions. An acne fetish can debilitate one's self-esteem while encouraging needless facial scarring. If you think you have an acne fetish, you can get help from a qualified dermatologist, psychologists or just talk it over with some really cool and understanding friends.

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